Bring back the Speak & Spell!

Earlier this week Peter Hartlaub wrote a “Poop” column on long-forgotten toys that he hopes will make a comeback. I’d like to add one to his list: Speak & Spell.

Remember the educational toy from Texas Instruments? It was first introduced in 1978 and then a series of newer models were released throughout the 80s. Speak & Spell taught kids how to spell by electronically sounding out a word and inviting them to spell it by using the letter buttons on the keypad.

My grandmother gave me a Speak & Spell and it had me spelling words such as “scissors” at 6-years-old. I remember sitting in the backseat of my parent’s green Volvo playing “Say it” and “Mystery Word.” I also remember my friend and I typing in words such as “hell” and “poop”–“Incorrect” the machine would say. We thought we were so naughty!

Speak & Spell and its husky computerized voice seemed so high-tech back then. But really the gadget is pleasantly simple when compared to my daughter’s Read and Write LeapFrog LeapPad that’s cluttered with all sorts of bells and whistles–talking characters, singsongy music, fancy sound effects, annoyingly uppity voices. You can do math problems, practice writing letters, listen to stories, touch words and hear them read aloud. There’s so much to do that my daughter doesn’t even seem to know where to start. The Speak & Spell’s singular purpose to teach a child to spell seems more effective. Sometimes it’s better to do only one thing right rather than try to do it all.

The Speak & Spell became famous when it made a cameo appearance–along with Reese’s Pieces–in Steven Spielberg’s 1982 blockbuster E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. Remember E.T. rigged one up to “phone home”?

The Texas Instruments marketing team quickly responded with an E.T. version of the product. My mom didn’t buy me one but I do remember acting out scenes from the movie with my younger brother and using our Speak & Spell to summon the mother ship.

And then there was the TV commercial with Bill Cosby. He’s not as good in it as he was in the Jello Pudding Pop ads but it’s still a classic. You can watch the commercial below; Cosby looks so young.

You can find old Speak & Spells on eBay, and you can relive the experience with one of the many emulators available online. My 6-year-old daughter played around with one the other night and she can now spell “ancient,” “angel,” and “answer.” Her teacher who encourages “best-guess spelling” in class might not approve of the Speak & Spell’s requirement to spell words exactly right. If only we could program it to fit the 21st century educational style and say “that’s a good guess” rather than “incorrect” when you misspell a word.